Tanya- Sample
TANYA Her cell was small, dark and gloomy. The floor was muddy with dead algae and filthy herbs. The walls contained paintings that gave ideas of Drow cultures, religions and slavery. Few of the paintings showed their skills in architecture. The houses they made, the roads and cities they built, were spectacular. Bones and rotten fleshes of dead humanoids were in abundance throughout the entire prison cell. Many have sacrificed their lives to satisfy mere amusements of the merciless Drows. Tanya had been afraid by the look of these putrefactions the day she stepped inside the prison cell. She had been here for a month, and was allowed to have food and water only thrice; once in every ten days. She was growing weaker day by day; her body metabolic rate was decreasing. She was sick with hunger and thirst. Generally Elves could live more than a year without food and above a month without water, but like all other living ones, their body would stop functioning properly without proper diet. Tanya had heard of some ancient elves and noble Eladrins, who could live without taking foods and water for months, while in meditation mode, but Tanya was not as strong as them. Her strength was dedicated for other purposes. She was an elven ranger, quite active with bows and spears. Her time was mostly spent with thoughts of her homeland, High Forest, her brother Dethros and his japes, her parents, the smile of her little brother Marcus, the stories and advices of their chieftain, the hunting and the exploring adventures with Cedric, Michelle, Mark and Tansy. She often thought of Minerva, the queen of Rivera Valley, and of Illyria, an elven mage who had been her companion in several expeditions. Since her height didn’t permit her to stand inside the cell, all she could do to pass her time was lying and dreaming of the better parts of her life. Her cloth was torn in places. She hadn’t bathed for a month, she was stinking awfully. Her skin had developed blisters. The cell was so dark that she was unable to see anything nearby. The prisons of the Drows were built in the deepest and darkest area of the city, she had noticed this the day they dragged her here. The Drows had restricted any form of light to penetrate this darkness. She could see light only when the gaoler entered the prison, carrying a lamp and food and water to keep her alive. Rest of the time she could not feel any difference between opening and closing her eyes. She was dreaming of a voyage with Illyria to the land of the Duerger, which never happened in reality, visualizing things in her mind’s eye, when a cracking sound startled her. She opened her eyes. Someone had opened the prison door, and she could hear someone crawling inside, but she could not figure out anything in the dark, apart from a pair of brilliant blue eyes. Is it the gaoler, or some other Draw? She could not say for sure, because Drow’s eyes did not glow in the dark. “You are free, elf.” The apparition spoke. It was a female voice. The eyes were constantly staring at her without blinking, Can she see in the dark? “Who are you?” Tanya asked. How has she entered? Where are the prison guards? How has she bypassed Drow security? The blue eyes blinked for the first time and within moments the prison cell was dazzled with light. The source of the light became visible as soon as Tanya’s eyes were adjusted to this sudden change. An Avariel was sitting in front of her. Not only her eyes but the whole body was glowing as bright as the daylight, including the pair of wings at her back. Avariels were angelic forms of elves, with magical powers thousand times greater than any elven mage and Eladrin. She had heard of them, but encountered one for the first time. Her skin was porcelain white, and her wings were auburn. Her hair was silver white, long and beautifully spread across her shoulders. Her face was more beautiful than any wood elf could ever dream of having. “I am Elena.” The Avariel spoke. “I am here to rescue you.” “How did you enter the city and come this far without the Drows noticing?” Tanya asked. “Who said they haven’t noticed?” Elena smiled. “On the contrary, they kept noticing us throughout, from our invasion at the cavern gate to our entry at the heart of the city. They noticed us till their last breaths.” Tanya couldn’t believe the fact she heard. Are the Drows dead? The powerful, malevolent and treacherous Drows, are they really gone? “Have you killed the Drows?” Tanya asked. “How many of you were there?” “Nine of us.” “Nine against an entire city?” “Not the entire city. Most of them were stupid folks and flew for their lives through the southern forest. We are generally not known for showing mercy, but we don’t take lives of the people who yield without fighting. Those who were not aware of our presence stayed inside their houses, and hence are burning by now. We burnt every house and destroyed every structure that we came across. Around eighty of the Drow warriors and rangers put up a really good fight, and we have killed them all and the spiders too, including the Driders, the Araneas and the giant ones, though one of the Driders did some damage before dying. It threw some of its venoms to Luthais, and he died on spot. We have lost him, but our mission has been accomplished. We have burnt the city and rescued the prisoners and slaves. Come with me.” Tanya crawled out of the cell along with Elena. She was still glowing like sunlight, thereby revealing the passageway ahead. She was the last one to be rescued, since her prison cell was located at the extreme end of the prison building. As they passed by the other cells, she found them vacant, except one, which had a dead Orc. Its jaws were wide opened. The lower canine teeth, which were ten times larger than the upper ones, were reddened with bloodstains. Red spots were also widespread in other parts of its greyish skin, most prominently in neck and naked torso. “It could not have been saved.” Elena replied as they crossed the cell of the dead Orc. “It was beaten bloody by the Drows and it was already dying with pain when I arrived at its cell. So I spared it the agony by shortening its lifespan. May the god bless its soul, and may it live a serene life in the other world.” They exited the building through a black gate over twelve feet high. She remembered entering here through a different passage, a large manhole through which she had been kicked down to a pit by a pair of armed Drows, and was carried to her cell by another pair waiting for her at the bottom. The entire city was burning in flames. Every building, every house and every structure that she could see, was being engulfed with conflagrations. She saw the Avariels flying with bows and flaming arrows in their hands. The prisoners and slaves had gathered underneath an Oak tree. They were mostly Orcs and goblins. “The building is clear. Burn it.” Elena shouted to one of the Avariels above as soon as they reached a safe distance from the prison. The Avariel threw a couple of arrows at the prison building. Other Avariels joined too in the process, until the entire construction was consumed in flames. There were around forty prisoners and over two hundred slaves. Tanya could distinguish between the prisoners and slaves. The slaves carried long iron chains wrapped around their necks, which defined lifetime bonds between them and their corresponding Drow masters. The prisoners had no such chains; only blood marks on their skin and, in some cases, broken noses and swollen eyes. The Orcs and the goblins were talking among themselves in a language unknown to her. She knew that they did not speak the Common elven English, which was mostly similar to the human English. Some of the Orcs were looking at her with sharp angry eyes. She was aware of the fact that Orcs were not exactly friends or allies of wood elves, though she had not heard of any major battles or fights that had ever occurred between these two tribes. But these Orcs definitely hated the Drows, and she could not rely upon their wits to differentiate between the natures of two categories of humanoids. For now, she was a possible hostile for them. She saw a lonely female elf sitting few meters away from the group of goblins and Orcs, a little baby being held in her arms. Her complexion was icy blue, shining blazingly in moonlight. She was dressed in white gown. Her silvery white hair was falling across her shoulders and making her look like a beautiful elven princess. She was staring at the moon with thoughtful eyes. The baby in her arms was sleeping deeply. She was definitely not a prisoner here, since she didn’t have any stains or dents in her skin and clothes, and she had a baby. Was she a slave? I need to find out. “She is a moon elf.” Tanya turned back at the voice. It was Elena. They had already landed on the ground. Their job was done. No structure was standing tall around them, only ruins. “Why is she here? She doesn’t look like a prisoner.” Tanya asked. “She is not. She has been here for over a year. Initially she was taken as a captive from her father’s arms, along with some other moon elves, on the day when the Drows had invaded and attacked their homeland, Rowfora forest. The other captives were killed within a few months, but she fell under the likings of a Drow lord, who married her. Though she was spared from brutal tortures, she could not escape the sexual torments that she had to undergo for a long time. She was cursed with a half-Drow child. I hope that the mother’s love and care will suppress any Drowish nature that runs through the child’s blood.”